“Or you got it or you ain't”: the nature of leadership in libraries

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the nature of leadership as a set of skills that can be acquired, vs the argument that they are skills a person either has or has not, and discuss this in relation to the recent focus on leadership in libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is a reflective opinion.

Findings

Argues that an over‐emphasis on leadership in the library manager is a potential danger to the collegiality of the profession, and that leadership is such a diversely interpreted term that it leads to a mishmash of ideas and emphases within the wider profession.

Practical implications

Relates to a topic much debated and discussed in recent years within the library profession.

Originality/value

The article takes a reflective and critical stance towards the discourse around leadership.

Citation

McMenemy, D. (2008), "“Or you got it or you ain't”: the nature of leadership in libraries", Library Review, Vol. 57 No. 4, pp. 265-268. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530810868698